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Do you know what "hapa" means? Singer-songwriter
Meiko didn't. Despite the fact that Meiko is 1/4 Japanese, she and her sister never learned the word "hapa" growing up (which means "half-Asian or half-Pacific Islander"). Then again, they grew up in a small town in Georgia called Roberta where they were "only ones in town who had any Asian in them."
"We knew we were different, but we didn't really know what it was all about because there were no other kids that were like us," she said. "So when we were asked 'What's your ethnicity?' we would always check the box for 'Other' because we're not all the way white or all the way Asian."
When Meiko moved to Los Angeles later in life, she learned the word "hapa" and was delighted to discover that were more people like herself in the world. "I felt like I was part of some cool group," she said. "I felt like I finally found my tribe."
To celebrate her hapa origins, as well as those of others, Meiko and fellow hapa singer-songwriter
Marié Digby are embarking on their first
Hapa Tour. The goal of the tour, Meiko said, is to spread the word about what it means to be hapa and celebrate that facet. "I know there's a lot of people out there that felt the same way that I did," she said. "So I wanted to put the tour together as a representation of it being okay to be mixed and to let others know there are lots of us, you just have to find us."
The tour (which the pair hope will become an annual event) will visit eight cities throughout the U.S. and feature local hapa openers from each location. As Meiko said, "This is basically a tour for the people who check the 'other' box on what their ethnicity is."
Tour Dates:
February 24 Music Box San Diego, CA
February 25 The Wayfarer Costa Mesa, CA
February 28 Saint Rocke Hermosa Beach, CA
March 1 The Troubadour Los Angeles, CA
March 4 Sweetwater Music Hall Mill Valley, CA
March 10 SPACE Evanston, IL
March 11 Wildwood Station Pavilion Marshfield, WI
March 14 Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis, MN
March 23 - Tractor Tavern - Seattle, WA
